A Herd of Watermelon
My work tools include rubber boots, a hydraulic
jack and snake tongs. Prevention over cure, always.
A helicopter’s shadow crosses the yard.
I sweat in cold weather; today even the shade burns.
Ants swarm a dead bat on the gravel.
No keys for these locks, no fire for that place.
Stepping inside, the city welcomes me.
We drain coffers for this grass, and hope for rain.
This morning two deer jumped the east fence while I
updated software. The significance eludes us.
A dream of watermelons rising from their viny beds,
lumbering through the field to the creek. Rebellion!
How many have sat at this desk before me, plotting
murders and rumors or rhymes. Die, mosquito. Die!
“A Herd of Watermelon” was drafted during the August 2016 Tupelo Press 30-30 Challenge. Thank you to Plain Jane for sponsoring the poem and providing the title. Alas, my time at this very special place has ended. No longer in Texas, I seek work elsewhere. What will I find?
O at the Edges 
Bilingual cowboys with tool-starred spurs stay the stampede of seed filled melons. Their pinto green backs now standing, sweating, breathing, waiting….
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And that’s the way it’s done! 🙂
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WHAT? No longer in Texas? As in … not coming back?
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I’m in Indiana, where it was 60 degrees this morning. Oh, I’ll be returning to Texas to visit, but I don’t know what the future holds as for living there again. Life is strange and wonderful and complex, and I’m moving forward as best I can.
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So glad I got to hear you read live a couple of times before your transition northward!! The blog works from anywhere – looking forward to transition poems.
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I’m so pleased to have been able to talk with you in person! I’m sure the poems will come forth at some point…
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Where are the stars taking you?
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They’ve brought me to the Midwest – Indianapolis.
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Well then. Guess you’ll be hanging out at the track. That’s all I know about Indianapolis, except that it’s where you take a right turn to head south for Georgia. Speaking as someone who grew up in Central Illinois.
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Well, probably not the track. 🙂 I find Indy to be an interesting place, quite diverse. I was worried about finding my ethnic cooking ingredients here, but everything is available! Now I just have to find that special bookstore…
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The home of Kurt Vonnegut!
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Yes! Though I’ve yet to venture out much, beyond shopping for needed items and food.
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Apparently, Indiana wants you, Bob. 🙂 May you find a happy home there.
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Is that an R. Dean Taylor reference? Gawd! I can’t believe I pulled that name out! And thank you, Cate!
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As Roger Miller noted, you can’t go swimming in a watermelon patch (but you can be happy if you’ve a mind to…) (K)
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Roger Miller was a very wise man, and yep, I’ve a mind to. 🙂
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I really love the line about sweating in cold weather, and the shade burning. It’s such a nice image! ❤
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Thank you! There are those days…
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I know that Texas will always hold fond memories for you, Bob.
I drive right through Indianapolis on my drives to/from Buffalo. Perhaps we can meet for coffee, sometime.
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Oh, yes. We must meet for coffee. Or a beer. Or a meal!
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😀
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Pingback: Do Not Frighten the Garden | Frank Hudson
I finished my own poem your herd of watermelon’s inspired and wrote a little orchestral score to perform it to. When I posted it this afternoon I wrote some thoughts I’ve had reading your work here, and maybe expressed something about why so many other writers (such as myself) like reading O at the Edges.
https://frankhudson.org/2019/09/14/do-not-frighten-the-garden/
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Wow! Thanks so much, Frank. I’m honored that you would take the time to do so. It’s comforting to know that someone, somewhere, reads my work!
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